Teachers union accepts furlough days in proposed contract

San Diego  Nearly two years after its contract expired, the San Diego teachers union has reached a tentative settlement for a new labor pact with the San Diego Unified School District, officials announced yesterday.﻿

Calling it a “monumental victory,” union officials said the contract calls for five furlough days in each of the next two school years. That amounts to a pay cut of roughly 2.74 percent and a savings of about $15 million to the district, said Camille Zombro, president of the San Diego Education Association.

District officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Under the proposed agreement, the district would restore salaries to its more than 8,000 part- and full-time teachers and raise pay by 7.16 percent during the 2012-13 school year.

“Protecting schools doesn’t have to mean hurting teachers. This will be painful, but it’s not a lose-your-house, can’t-pay-the mortgage cut,” Zombro said.

San Diego Unified has slashed $300 million from its budget since 2008 due in part to a reduction in state funding.

California’s second-largest school district faces an estimated $87.8 million deficit in next year’s $1.2 billion budget. Proposed pay cuts of up to 8 percent were rejected by the union before it agreed to trim the school year by five days with unpaid furloughs. The proposed contract also calls for an increase in medical co-payments from $5 to $10.

Under the contract, which must be ratified by the school board, the district would cancel the furloughs should its fiscal situation improve. Nursing and counseling staffing levels would also be protected from immediate cuts. Class sizes would be capped.

Other employee unions will be asked to consider furloughs.

The district had been stalled in negotiations with the teachers union since the contract expired in 2008. Teachers have been working under the terms of the old contract.